Night of the Hunter
by AHJ From Palm Springs
Summary: Washington D.C. is being gripped by fear. Can Gibbs and his team solve the case? Will Abby be able to survive the stress of the case and help Gibbs too?
1. Chapter 1

Here is a story that I have been working off and on now for a few months. I thought I would finally start posting it to get it out there! As usual...all NCIS characters belong to you know who. All other characters are my invention. Please review if you like...no flames please. I take feedback for story inspiration.

_NCIS: The Night of the Hunter_

_By: A.H.J  
April 11, 2010  
_

It was August 29th, 1998, when Abigail Scuito walked into the NCIS building for her fifth year anniversary. At 29 years-old, she had a career that many would only dream of, yet she still felt as this day would be a turning point in her career. Gibbs and Abby left the NCIS building for lunch just before 12:30pm. It was a sunny day in the D.C. Area, what was a welcomed sight to what the team had been going through the past few weeks. Since this was Abby's fifth year anniversary with the agency, Gibbs wanted to celebrate the time alone with her. Abby had been distracted some-what because of this case, so Gibbs wanted to talk to her privately—without the sometimes comedic sarcasm undertones of DiNozzo around.

As Gibbs pulled the car out of the NCIS parking lot, he glanced over at Abby briefly. She was staring out the window and at that moment Gibbs did not know if she had something on her mind or whether she was just enjoying a moment away from the lab. Gibbs grabbed her hand and squeezed it as he told her "Happy fifth anniversary Abby." She smiled at Gibbs. "Thanks Gibbs, that means a lot—really. You are the first person who has said anything today about it. "In the back of Gibbs mind, he thought maybe that was the issue, but maybe there was more to it than she was letting on. Between glances at the road and over to her, Gibbs ashed the question: "Abby—is everything alright? Is this case more than you can handle?"

"Oh no...no..God no Gibbs. This case is..."

She trailed off on her reply, and took a deep breath before continuing. "Gibbs...the case is fine, really. I just have what you would say....a gut feeling."

"What about Abby? You can tell me." Gibbs told her.

"I know Gibbs. I just have a feeling something hinky is going to happen. I just don't know." she said as she turned back to look out the

window once again. Gibbs again took her hand and said. "Abby...if this case gets to be too much, you come talk to me. Understand"Abby turned back to Gibbs and smiled. Not a full smile, but a smile to let him know that she understood clearly. "Now, lets go have lunch. It is suppose to be your day." Gibbs parked the car and squeezed her hand once more. Going around the car, and opening the car door....he helped Abby out. After the door was shut and locked, Abby engulfed Gibbs in a hug. A slight shiver ran down Gibbs spine. He knew in the back of his mind that Abby was not handing anything well with this case. He pulled away from her and kiss her lips slowly. "Everything will be OK Abbs...I'm right here."

After lunch with Gibbs, that afternoon, she move silently pass the bullpen and down into her lab as usual. Her machines were still humming, and the lights glowing as if they were apart of a downtown city at night. Abby walked over to her computer and logged on to her instant message chat window. Her hands were somewhat shaky, yet she typed away her message:

**FORENSIC LAB RAT**: McGee....send me the file on the case again. I left the flash drive at home.

She hesitated a moment whether or not she should hit the enter button to send it. Closing her eyes, she opened them to find the message still on the screen....waiting for the send command to obliviate the message into cyperspace and over to McGee's computer terminal. Abby deleted the message and spun around in the chair as the computer behind her started its magic. Something flashed across the screen that caught Abby's eye. She typed furiously at the keys, to bring up the information into full screen.

"Come on...come on...I need the information!" she said through gritted teeth as the computer spit and churned the information before her eyes.

The case at hand was something the team had been working for the last month. Only one other time had Abby been "stubbed" in a puzzle solver of a case. That case was during her first year at NCIS, and one which Gibbs hoped to never have to go through again too...May of 1993. The first time Abby had gotten hurt on the job, and the last time she would Gibbs swore. That first year working at NCIS, was almost a blur to her. Case after case, they all went by as nothing more than classic scenarios in the forensic world. Usually the DNA samples being the link to the person of interest and them being caught and jailed. It was also the year Abby met Mikel Mawer. At the moment of remembering him, Abby shivered. Now thinking to herself, she couldn't believe that she fell for that man. She was heavily crushing on Gibbs that first year, and could not bring herself to tell him her secret, so she went out with the first guy that asked her. They were both alike in so many ways: 1. Goth, 2. had jobs in law enforcement, and 3. loved loud music.

"What was I thinking?" she mumbled to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry for the delay...wasn't sure where to take this, and with testing the pass few months at school...very little time to write. Now, I'm down_

_to the last 15 school days of the year, and will look forward to having more time to write. I'll be spending my summer's watching NCIS everyday_

_for inspirations! Please review please. I take the reviews for helpful guidance to where I can take this. Please don't critize my writing, only comment_

_if you enjoyed it. Thanks._

_PS...all NCIS characters belong to CBS etc etc...all other characters ARE MINE. .I only write to lead them where I wish they could take these stories....a bit longer than the 45 mins. on TV._

_One final disclaimer: _

_All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental._

_NCIS-The Night of The Hunter\par_

_Chapter Two: Three Weeks and No Break_

_May 8, 2010_

_By: AHJ_

September 19th, three weeks of terror had the Washington D.C. Area in a panic. It did not help that most people were on edge due to the fact

that the snow had been coming down heavily in record numbers and most people were stuck within the walls of their homes or work place. Even

the local law enforcement offices, as well as the FBI, were at a stand still. However, their main concern was this case. McGee dubbed the person or

persons "Night Hunter" as the crimes were committed during the late hours of the night. Gibbs' team had been called into the case, as the latest

victim was a Marine Staff Sergeant out of Quantico. Staff Sergeant Eric Stevenson was an innocent victim while shopping at the local home

improvement store. As he was loading up his truck with the items he had purchased, a single gunshot rang out hitting him. The

evidence left at the scene by the person responsible were the same...a single bullet case was found 200 yards away from the point of impact. At

first, Gibbs flashbacked to Ari, but Tony's words echoed to remind him that it was impossible for Ari to be the suspect.

"Boss...Ziva took care of that problem." Gibbs remembered. Everything about the case-while at the same time forgetting the outcome at hand, one

aspect Gibbs knew for sure---they were dealing with a sniper. The crime scene was quickly shutdown and processed, as Gibbs took charge over

the local LEOs.

"DiNozzo, McGee-tag and bag the evidence for Abby."

"on it boss" they both sas said in union.

Gibbs walked over to Officer Martin of the Washington D.C. Office. "Whatcha' think Jack?" he asked. "I don't know Gibbs, this is the third victim. All

random for sure. There isn't a pattern except for the case shell left when the shot was fired."Jack replied. Gibbs ran a hand over his face. He knew

Abby was going to be working more overtime for sure with the latest evidence he was to bring back to her. Gibbs looked to see if his team was

ready to head back to the Navy Yard, and noticed Tony loading everything up. Turning back to Officer Martin, Gibbs spoke "I'll let you

know what we find out." Officer Martin just nodded and walked off.

Twenty minutes later, Gibbs was walking down into Abby's lab with a cardboard box full of evidence collected at the scene. Evidence jars had

glass' others had slides of oil marks. Photos of every possible angle imaginable had been taken. There was no room for error on this case, and the

team knew that fact. As Gibbs walked into the hallway area leading to the lab that Abby occupied the music was non-exsistant. Usually, it was the

first thing you heard as one exited the elveator, but today, there was silence. Gibbs walked into the lab, and as the door swooshed open, he saw

Abby at her computer desk. Placing the box on the table, he took in the silence that was very un-Abby like. When she didn't turn around at first, he

didn't think nothing of it. But, as he walked up behind her, and still no movement, that sent his senses into elavated alert. Her head was lying

down into her arms. She was in a deep REM sleep.

He placed his left hand on her back, just below her shoulder blade, and leaned down to her ear.

"Abby" he stated softly.

Still no movement from her. Gibbs glanced over to his left at the table to see if there were chemicals left out in the opened that could be causing

this. With nothing out on the tables, he again turned to Abby. "Abby!" he called a bit louder, this time, his forensic scientist standing up with full

force, making Gibbs step back quickly. She looked at Gibbs with blinking eyes, and with an expression on her face that questioned who he was

momentairly. As Abby's sense started to come into focused briefly, she mumbled out

"Gibbs?"

Gibbs went to step forward into her space, but as he took that one step, Abby crumbled to the floor faster than a building coming down.

"ABBY!" he yelled out.

Helping her to the floor, he hit the phone intercom button to Ducky below in the Morgue. Ducky appeared on the video feed quickly.

"Jethro, my dear boy...what can I help you with." the doctor asked.

With panic in his voice, Gibbs barked out the order like a true marine. "Ducky...get up to the Lab. Abby just passed out!"


End file.
